I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 30th of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go straight to the Gospel of John 12:43:

“for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.”

When I read that Scripture I just think of one thing, the fear of man, and I want to say to each one of us as we are facing the new year of 2026, let us stop chasing the approval of man and start doing things for God’s glory alone. It will change our lives dramatically. I looked up the translation of this Bible verse in The Message Translation, and it is quite interesting. It says,

“They were afraid of getting kicked out of the meeting place. When push came to shove they cared more for human approval than for God’s glory.”

How true is that? Let us change our complete outlook this coming year. Let us start asking ourselves that question, “What would God do?” - before we do it.

I have spoken to men who got trapped in alcoholism, alcoholics, and I asked them, “Why did you do it?” And they have told me, “No, we didn’t do it because we wanted to. We did it because we wanted to stay in favour with the crowd”, and of course when you become an alcoholic, you are immediately chucked out of the crowd and you are on your own. I have spoken to drug addicts, and I said, “Why did you get into this hellish thing?” And they said, “We were just trying to keep in with the crowd, to be popular, and so we thought we would dabble in these drugs.” And now, they have been caught up in that horrible thing called addiction. The young girl, a virgin who loved the Lord, why did you sleep with that man? “No, not really, but I was just wanting to be popular with the crowd because all my friends were doing it.” And because you did it thinking it would be safe, you ended up getting pregnant and marrying the man you did not love.

Let us not go down that road this coming year. Let us start doing what the Lord Jesus Christ wants us to do for our own sake and for His glory. Let us start to walk in holiness and then we will have a life that is full of joy and purpose and victory!

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 29th of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go straight to Hebrews 12:14:

“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord…”

I remember years ago hearing this little saying: “Holiness is the end product of obedience.” So when you and I are obedient to the things of God, we automatically become holy people. The Lord is very clear as well that without holiness no man will see God.

I really want to encourage you as we are facing the end of the year, 2025, to really have a good, deep, hard look at yourself as I am, and ask yourself the question - where are we standing at the moment? A young person told me that they are so frustrated. They never, ever seem to make money to have possessions, no matter what they do. What we need to do is to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all these things will be added to us. (Matthew 6:33).

J.C. Ryle was a Bishop in the Church of England in the 1800’s, a very godly man. He made a quote which I want to read to you, that really startled me and challenged me, and I hope it is going to do the same for you as you get ready to face a new year and everything that it holds. He said, “Beware of manufacturing a God of your own:…” What does that mean? Well, it means we have to do things according to the Bible, not according to what suits us in the Bible. We have to take the Bible literally and walk according to its statutes, its laws. This same Bishop said, “… a God who is all mercy, but not just; a God who is all love, but not holy; a God who has a heaven for everybody, but a hell for none; a God who can allow good and bad to be side by side in time, but will make no distinction between good and broad in eternity.”

There is no such god, my dear friend, and you and I need to understand that, and if things are not going well with us we need to ask the Lord today to please show us those areas in our lives where we are not walking according to His desires for us, so that we can have a life of peace and joy and prosperity in Jesus Christ.

Have a wonderful day today!
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 28th of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go straight to the Book of Proverbs 18:24:

”But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

Then we go to the Gospel of John 15:14, Jesus says:

”You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.”

Are you lonely today? Christmas is over. Some of your loved ones, your children, maybe your parents, have been to see you. Now they have to go back, back to work. Some have got to go back overseas, and you say you don’t know when you will see them again, and you are feeling lonely. Well, I want to share something with you today. What you sow is what you reap. If you sow no seed, you will reap no crop, so in order to have friends, you need to be friendly. (Proverbs 18:24).

I want to tell you a story about a rich woman. She was a godly woman but she was very wrapped up with herself, but there was a maid who worked and stayed in a little room in the back of the house. She was a friend of Jesus, and Jesus was her friend, and she spent lots of time with the Lord, praying and reading scripture. When she got old, she died. She went to Heaven and God gave her a beautiful home in Heaven because He was so fond of her.

Then the rich old lady died and she went to Heaven and when she arrived in Heaven St. Peter took her down a street of gold and said, “I am going to show you your home.” She walked passed this beautiful palatial home, and Peter said to the rich old lady, “See that house? That belongs to your maid. That is where she stays.” The old lady was so excited, “Well, if my maid stays in a house like that, obviously I am going to stay in a palace.” But the golden road ran out, and then it was a silver road, and then it was a tarmac road, and then it was a dirt road, and then it was a path. No more houses, just little shacks with a few sheets of corrugated iron and some poles. And then eventually Peter said, “There is your home.” And the lady was shattered. She said, “How can you do this?” He said, ”You sent no material up for us to build your home.”

Folks, it’s just a story but I want to tell you, if you want to have friends and if you want to know Jesus Christ as your personal Friend, the secret is, you have got to spend time with Him, every single morning. 1 Timothy 6:6 says,

“Now godliness with contentment is great gain.”

Spend more time with Jesus and you won’t be so lonely!

God bless you and goodbye.